Zoe Renée, CHLA, and stuff

Zoe Renée- life reborn

That is our baby girl's name. Pretty fitting? We think so. I have always loved the name Zoe and have been bouncing it around for a few years. B warmed up to it especially after learning the meaning - life. Little did I know how much meaning that name would have now that we are faced with our challenges. Reneé is my baby sister's middle name. We lost her many years ago after a long battle against cancer just before her 4th birthday. I was 14 years old. I wanted to honor her and have her name live on. Even more fitting as Renée means reborn. May this name give our little girl the strength to over come and have a long and beautiful life.

Now on to the appointment at CHLA...

Last Friday we had our first appointment with the fetal cardiologist at Children's Hospital of Los Angeles. After a frazzling hour and a half drive there, it was so nice to be welcomed by the kindest staff.

Quickly we were whisked away to meet Dr. P who was so warm and caring. He proceeded to perform a detailed ultrasound of Zoe's heart. He couldn't get all the pictures he needed as our litte girl is always so stubborn. He went on to explain to us that Zoe has the typical Hypoplastic Left Heart Syndrome and suggests we continue to seek care at CHLA. For once Brian and I were releived that we didn't receive even further bad news. I managed to keep the tears under control until the very end.

The rest of the appointment was talking about the team that will be providing care for both Zoe and myself. They are going to help us through the insurance process and get this show on the road.

Our goal is to have my care transferred to the hospital next to CHLA. I do not want to give birth to Zoe in Mission Viejo as she will quickly be stabilized and transported to CHLA which is well over an hour away. It is hard enough knowing that we will not have those glorious moments of bonding after her arrival. With delivering next door to CHLA, B will be able to go with Zoe and stay with her. As soon as I am recovered I can be wheeled over to see her.

Our next appointment is June 2nd for a followup ultrasound and meeting Dr. Starnes. This is so exciting! He is the best surgeon and everyone raves about him. Google and you will see.

So here are some not so great things going on with me:

Severe carpal tunnel. I am in braces and constant pain. My fingers and thumbs are numb. Unfortunately this has really put a damper on sleep, for some reason the pain is unbearable at night. I am waiting to get in to a orthopedic surgeon and hopefully come up with a pain management plan.

I failed the one hour glucose test. The cut off is 130 - my level was 169! Yesterday I endured the three hour test after swigging down 100 grams of sugar water. Pretty disgusting. Nothing like being spun out on sugar while stuck in a doctors office for hours. Fingers are crossed that I pass and do not have gestational diabetes.

My feet are swelling into balloons. I do not even recognize them. To alleviate I have been instructed to drink even more water and spend as much time lying on my left side as possible.

Now for the fun stuff!

Today I am 26 weeks and 2 days along! Less then 14 weeks left to go before Zoe's big debut!

There is a crib, glider, and side table in the nursery! B also put in a lot of work in fixing up the closet.

I bought a sewing machine in plans of making Zoe's bedding. So far I have completed a toss pillow for the glider and cut out the bed skirt. A bit time consuming due to my hand issues, but it will be done. I will be posting some pictures later.

A few weekends ago B joined me for a cloth diapering class. I left with almost all of our newborn/early stages of diapers. I spent to entire days prepping the prefolds and they are oh so soft. Gotta love the fluff!